The Short, Tragic Life of Aaron Hernandez: Inside a Violent Downfall

Prison officials say "Hernandez hanged himself utilizing a bed sheet that he attached to his cell window" in the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center.

The apparent prison-cell suicide of convicted killer and disgraced New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez has triggered numerous calls for probes, while a Jamaica Plain juror who voted to acquit the ex-NFL star less than a week ago was stunned by the news.

Authorities offered few answers after Hernandez was found hanging from a bedsheet Wednesday in his cell in a maximum-security prison in MA, where he was serving a life sentence for the 2013 slaying of a onetime friend.

There were no prior concerns that Hernandez was suicidal, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Correction told ABC News. Had they had any suspicions, they would have transferred him to a mental health unit, he said.

Details of the suicide still are coming to light, but both the Massachusetts State Police and the Worcester Country District Attorney's Office are launching an investigation into Hernandez's death.

"There were no conversations or correspondence from Aaron to his family or legal team that would have indicated anything like this was possible", said his attorney, Jose Baez. He was serving a life sentence for the murder of Odin Lloyd in 2013.

The Patriots organization has yet to release a statement on the passing of Hernandez, and will reportedly cease from releasing such at this time.

Despite helping the University of Florida win the 2008 NCAA championship, Hernandez dropped to the fourth round of the National Football League draft because of misbehaviour in college.

February 5, 2012: Playing in Super Bowl XLVI, Hernandez leads the Patriots with eight receptions for 67 yards and a third-quarter touchdown.

Hernandez's acquittal, Monroe said, hinged on the testimony of star witness Alexander Bradley, a convict himself who he said jurors deemed unreliable. Hernandez died five days after a jury acquitted him in the 2012 shooting deaths of two men whom prosecutors alleged he gunned down after one accidentally spilled a drink on him at a Boston nightclub. As the jury was deliberating, cameras spied Hernandez blowing kisses to the young daughter he fathered with fiancee Shayanna Jenkins. "It was a long draft", Hernandez admits, "but I was just happy regardless of where I got picked because it's a dream come true". "Mr. Hernandez also attempted to block his door from the inside by jamming the door with various items".